Hornets Hype

Kevin Martin vs. Chris Paul in the Battle of the Babyface.

This morning we were watching last night’s highlights on NBA TV, and they referred to Kevin Martin of the Kings as “The Baby-Faced Assassin.” Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up. Clearly they are mistaken, for everyone knows Chris Paul is The Baby-Faced Criminal.

Really, I think there are two major questions we need to ask here. First, who is more baby-faced? For your convenience, the head to head comparison. I don’t know, guys. I don’t think you can get any more baby-faced than Chris Paul. Look at him! Second, who is the bigger assassin/criminal?

Here’s what I’m saying: JUST WHO DO YOU ASSASSINATE IF YOU PLAY FOR THE SACRAMENTO KINGS? I mean, they aren’t that terrible, but they’re eight games under .500.

Also, I don’t think you are really allowed to call someone a baby-faced assassin who scores 48 points in a loss to the T-Wolves. In fact, the Kings are two of Minnesota’s 13 wins.

NBA TV, you fail.

Free! CP3 Posters for everyone tonight! (See left.) Clearly meant to be a depiction of what Chris Paul looks like shortly before devouring someone’s soul. And they’ve done a good job with it, too.

ESPN the Mag Hype for CP: This article just appeared on the front page of espn.com. Everyone wants to be friends with Chris Paul. It’s the cool thing to do. Except, where ya been lately on that whole yelling-at-Tyson thing?

What-EVER, Marty Burns: People who disrespect the CP3|MVP mission end up in a special place. It’s called the Shit List.

CrowdWatch: I think we’ve got another sellout for tonight. There were only 300 tickets left as of this morning.

Bonus Random Hype That Can’t Quite Be Categorized: Hilton Armstrong and Julian Wright go bowling. Why? How? No one knows. I love you, internets.

And remember to smile at the game, because you’re on TV!

• Yesterday afternoon I was in my car listening to actual Hornets talk on WWL. I thought, “Is this happening?” It was rather unbelievable. One guy said he has Direct TV and doesn’t get to watch the Hornets games. Wednesday’s game was the first time he’d ever seen Chris Paul play. He said he called up and immediately bought tickets for the next two Fridays.

• How big is the love fest for CP right now, by the way? The crowd on Wednesday wasn’t a sellout, but it was probably the loudest of the season. They were ready to go crazy right from the get-go. They screamed for Shinn when he talked about how great New Orleans did at hosting the All Star Game. They screamed for the starting line up. There was one moment when Chris Paul was just dribbling the ball up court, not even particularly doing anything except touching it, and there was a spontaneous standing, screaming ovation.
• Chris Paul systematically dismantled Kidd and the Mavs. He possibly was bent on destroying their souls. That was fun.
• Sorry to see Bobby go, especially after the game he had. The deal gave us more options, toughness, and a bit more size, but it remains to be seen whether chemistry will be disrupted. One would think Byron Scott would simply bench any one who even started to start shit. I imagine they know that about him and I hope attitudes won’t be a problem.
• At Casino Night last night, I missed my moment to get my pic with David West. (I was totally gonna blog it, too.) We were like ships passing in the night. Or really, ships loitering by the buffet table. I decided to go for the food first, but alas, I didn’t know the players were going to take off shortly afterward due to their game the next day. Opportunities pass.
• We got a nice numbered print with Chandler, Paul, West, and Stojakovic on it. If you renewed your season tix, you got free courtside seats for an upcoming game. We didn’t bite, but many people did.
• Hey, did you know there’s a whole aisle of Hornets gear in Walmart? I generally boycott Walmart as a rule, but I had to stop and get cat food on the way home from Metro. We were all excited to see it. They have jerseys (I didn’t know there was a whole other tier of jersey below the replica, but it turns out there is), T-shirts, sweatshirts, and… Chris Paul pajama pants!
• More and more I get the feeling this is the Hornets’ moment, and it is really starting to roll in NOLA. I feel momentum. I hope they sell out the game tonight! And hey, Buzzfest!
• I seriously don’t think I can live without a pair of Chris Paul pajama pants, so if anyone knows where to get them in a size smaller than XL, please tell me where!

Word from the All-Star game. It was awesome! Although the first three quarters were largely controlled by the East, the Western All-Stars kept it continuously close. Which in basketball, especially NBA basketball, and even moreso all-star NBA basketball, means you can always make a run. CP3 came in later than we expected, coming out after both Iverson (the starter) and Nash. Unfortunately some people were booing these guys. I understand we all wanted CP in the rafters, but let’s keep it positive. This day is about all of these guys. (Ours just happen to be the best!) The cool thing was that though the PA didn’t unleash the trademark “Woo” that accompanies a CP score, the upper Nola crowds did it themselves. We were all doing it even on announced assists. I listened to a later telecast. You could hear it.

D West had an average game and proved he belonged there, but didn’t stand out, unfortunately. It was his first such game, however, and a huge honor. I think you could see he was not used to playing with these guys and wasn’t sure how to react sometimes. Byron’s Princeton system is more exact than most others, except for maybe the Lakers’ triangle O. But CP3 came through big time. He took over the fourth quarter and made it close when no one thought it would be. If pundits were calling it one of the best finishes ever, it was because of CP. MVP chants rained down and even the commentators across the board were saying had the West pulled it out, he probably would have gotten the nod. So despite the ultimate loss, it showed CP3 not only deserves to be an All-Star, but a legitimate MVP candidate.

The Saturday Skills Competition was awesome, albeit not the Hornets day to shine. Nonetheless, it was New Orleans itself which shined. The first event, Shooting Stars, featured four teams, each which had to make six shots in order, each further back than the former, culminating in a half court shot. No Hornets, as it featured a current NBA star, WNBA star, and NBA legend (retired) from San Antonio, Detroit, Chicago, and Phoenix. San Antonio won. And as it wasn’t said in ANY other outlet I saw, it was the WNBA player, Becky Hammon, who carried them in the first round, and fully pulled her part in the finals to win. That woman can shoot!

Next up was the Skills Challenge, featuring our very own someday-MVP, Chris Paul (picture above). There, competitors had to make a lay-up/dunk, dribble around several obstacles, make a serious of passes, shoot from the free throw line, pass again, and then sprint through more obstacles before making a final lay-up/dunk. Chris dazzled in the first round, to the delight of many Hornets fans, but unfortunately got ousted in the finals by the perfect (and record-breaking) performance by arch-nemesis, Deron Williams. Well guess what, we’ll see what happens on the 29th. Look to see CP3 rebound.

Next up was Peja in the 3-Point contest. Despite being a two-time champion in this event, he started off cold, missing from his usual money-spot in the corner. But then he got hot, passing several competitors, but missed the 2-point ball after making all the other four in the final rack, meaning he fell just below two other players, which proved his undoing, when last year’s champ, Jason Kapono blasted past everyone, knocking out Peja. Kapono went on to win the contest handily. Although we were disappointed, we dare the other five guys in the contest to do that with the game clock expiring and a seven footer in their face like Peja does. We know you’re still the best, Peja.

That left the dunk event, also with no Hornets. Boo. They tried to get Julian Wright in it, to no avail. As ticktock6 pointed out, the only bummer about this amazing event was that it was all gimmicks. So here is our shot out to Jamario Moon, who probably pulled out the most athletic dunk with his first round bounce-down jumping 360 catch and full bring back tomahawk slam that started it all. Dwight Howard, however, was the ultimate winner. And deservedly so.

Hypemeter: although the Hornets didn’t win any events, New Orleans won them all. And so we’re proud of that!

There was just this point where I felt it, but I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to jinx it. Sometime in the 4th quarter I just thought, “There is no way they lose this game.” Phoenix tied it up, and tied it up, and tied it up. The Hornets had lost three in a row. But not this one.

Chris Paul had 42 points, 9 assists, 8 steals and 1 turnover.

If there is any highlight show on TV not talking about that game tonight, they will be on my personal Shit List FOR LIFE. (As I was typing, it was the #1 play of the night on ESPN. If it was not, I was prepared to storm the building. And I mean fly personally to New York or wherever and storm the building. I am not even joking.)

Chris Paul. Peja. Double OT. 132-130 over Phoenix.

This is the top, baby. I can say no more.

Everyone knew Chris Paul was going to be named to the All Star reserves. But Tyson Chandler and David West were sort of on the bubble in the very talented Western Conference. And Byron Scott was one win away (or one Dallas loss) from coaching the game.

Yesterday this all played out nicely, as CP3 and D-West were named to the All Star team. Congratulations to both of them, especially West, who very quietly outplays other teams on a nightly basis and just does what has to be done. It’s like, “How many ‘Most Underrated Player’ lists can the man make before he ceases to be underrated and gets rated already?”

Before the end of the night, Coach Scott’s All Star appearance was also clinched, thanks to a little help from our friends… er… rivals. Dallas’ loss to Boston in the final seconds ensured that, with us holding the tiebreaker, they couldn’t catch us for the best or second-best record in the West. (Second best because Phoenix doesn’t count– their coach was in the All Star game last year so he can’t do it again.) Speaking of which, three hours later we got a little more help from the Spurs coming back to beat Phoenix, which once again flip flops us back on top of Phoenix percentage-wise.